Electric switch



Aug. 31 1926.

A. R. RICE ELECTRIC SWITCH Fil d May 14. 1924 Q rz F usa 76 Patented Aug. 31, 1926.

UNITED stares ARTHUR RYAN BEIGE, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

ELECTRIC SVJ'I'ICI-I.

Application filed May 14, 1924-, Serial No.

The invention relates to improvements in electric switches as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form a part of the same.

The invention consists essentially of a permanent contact and a pivoted contact movable into or out of engagement with said permanent contact through the operation of a rocker head having spring connection with said movable contact and having lateral arms operating in guide slots in the switch, said slots being so aranged as to transform the longitudinal pull on said rocker head to a tilting movement of same to apply angular pull on said movable contact in alternate directions upon successive operations of the pull member.

One object of the invention is to insure positive movement of the movable contact member coincident with the operation of the pull member.

Another object of the invention is to re duce to a mimimum the cost of production of switches of the pull chain type, thus tending to bring into universal use this most advantageous and safe form of electric "itch,

And generally the objects of the invention are to provide a pull chain switch which will be inexpensive of construction, simple and safe in operation, durable and eflicient.

in the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a switch with the shell partly in vertical section and the rocker head removed.

:Eigure 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line AA of Figure 3.

igure 3 is a. plan view of Figure 2 with the top plate removed.

Figure lis a side elevation of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the slotted guide frame for the rocker head.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the rocker head and a portion of the operating chain.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of rocker head guide and horn.

Like numerals of reference indicate. corresponding parts in the various figures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 are discs constructed of fibre or other suitable material, said discs being secured in spaced concentric arrangement by means of the binding posts 3 and 1 secured at opposite ends thereto, thus forming a central space for the accommodationof the various operating parts to be described hereinafter.

713,293, and in Ganada May 15, 1923,

5 are spring straps connected at corresponding ends to the binding posts 3 and 4 respectively and having their free ends converging to form spring jaws constituting a permanent contact member resting against the inner surface of the disc 1.

(5 and 7 are contact supporting members preferably in the form of straps of fibre or other suitable insulating material positioned in vertical parallel arrangement between the discs 1 and 2 and having end projections 8 therefrom enterin slots in said discs for the purpose of rigidly securing said members thereto.

9 is a movable contact consisting of a metal strap folded in substantially U-shape and having its ends embracing the members and 7 and pivoted thereto midway between the discs 1 and 2 by means of pins 10, the central portion 11 of said contact be ing reduced to enter the jaws of the permanent contact member 5.

12 is the rocker head guide consisting of a sheet of metal or other stiff material folded in substantially U-shape and set on edge between the discs 1 and 2 with its open end positioned between the plates 6 and 7 and its flattened closed end 13 projecting a short distance past the edges of the discs 1 and 2 and on the side of the switch opposite to that on which the permanent contact jaws 5 are located, said rocker head guide being rigidly held to its position within the switch by means of projections 14 from opposite side edges of the free ends thereof entering slots in the discs 1 and 2. The sides 12 and 12 of the frame or rocker head guide 12 are each provided with substantially l =i-shapcd cuts oppositely located in relati n to one another and forming inwardly extending diverging straight walled slots 15 and 16 and outwardly extending diverging curved walled slots 17 and 18 radiating from a central guideway 19, said slots forming guides for the rocker head as will be described hereinafter.

20 is a rocker head consisting of a flat metal strap having a substantially square central body portion 20 slightly less in width than the distance between the sides 12 and 12 of the member 12 and tapering end portions 21 and 22 terminating in finger like ends 23, said strap being bent so that said one portions 21 and 22 lie parallel to one another and at right angles tothe central portion 20 with the fingers 23 turned Lil outwardly at right angles to said portions 21 and and entering the opposing slots in the walls of the member 12. The body portion oi the roclzer head is provided with an opening therethrough for the reception of an insulating member to one end of which is secured a link 25 from the chain 26 which is adapted to entend through an opening in the face 13 of the member 12, and to the other end of which is secured a tensioned spring 28 which its other end secured to the end of the movable contact member as at 29.

The chain 26 may be secured in any desired manner to the insulatin member 21 but the method show in the drawings is thought tobe preteraole. in which a substantially ti-shaped linl: 25 is employed, the apex; of in link being slotted and opened to receive the innermost link 30 of the chain and then closed over said link and the arms of said link being spread to embracesaid insulating member and secured thereto by means of a pin 31 extending through said arms and said insulating member.

is a horn engaging the face or closed end 13 of the rocker head guide 12 over the opening 27 and through which the chain or cord 26 extends, said horn being provided with a flange 32 around the inner end thereof over whichthe enclosing shell extends to hold said horn in position.

33 are terminal screws mounted in the posts 3 and 1 respectively and being for the reception of the wires as customary.

31 is a shell which may be of the type ordinarily used in s cket construction.

35 are spring jaws secured to the inner surface of the disc directly opposite the permanent contact 5 and being for the purpose of receiving the movable contact 11 in the open condition oi the circuit.

In Figure 7 is shown a modified form of rocker head guide and horn, in which said guide is formed of two sections or plates 36 and 37 corresponeing in detail to the sides 12 and 13 of the member 12 shown in Figure 5 except that the outer edges thereoi are provided with lugs 38 adapted to be projected through corresponding slots in the lateral extensions 39 of the horn32 and turned downwardly thereover to firmly grip the horn and hold same rigidly to its position. This method of construction not only provides a rigid spacer for the members 36 and 37 but also provides a very simple and etlicient method of securing the horn in position.

It will have been apparent that the normal inoperative position of the rocker head is automatically determined by the position of the movable contact 11 as the spring 28 is under tension and holds said rocker head in as close proximity to the movable contact as the inner guide slots in the rocker head guide 12 vill permit and in the operation of the invention the desired angle of pull on the said movable contact is obtained the particular shape of the outer L4 slots '17 and 18 in the member 12 in unich the arms or the said rocker head rate. That is to say, assuming that the circuit through the socket is closed through the engagement of the movable contact with the permanent contact, the rocker head will be drawn towards said movable contact with the lingers thereof engaging the ends 01 the slots 15 and when it is desired to open the circuit it is necessary to pull outwardly "on the chain 26 which exerts a longitudinal pull on the rocker head drawing same away troni the movable contact against the pres sure ot the spring until said fingers contact the rear walls of the slot 17 which are curved inwardly and downwardly and cause the enlarged end of said rocker head to tilt upwardly thus converting the longitudinal pull on the rocker head to a pull at an upward angle on the spring 28 and thus drawing said movable contact out ot engagement with the permanent contact and causing same to spring upwardly into engagement with the disc 2. Coincident upon the release of the operating chain the spring 28 exerts longitudinal pull on the rocker head causing same to be drawn as closely to and in straight line with the movable contact as the inner slots in the member 12 will permit.

When it is desired to close the circuit it is ot'course simply necessary to pull on the chain 26 causing a longitudinal pull on the rocker head, which longitudinal pull is converted to a downward an ular pull on the movable contact subsequent to the ti 25-3 of the rocker head reaching the inwardly and upwardly curving rear wall of the slot 18 which causes the enlarged end of said rocker head to tilt downwardly and thus automatically determine the angle of the pull on said movable contact which is instantaneously brought into engagement with the permanent contact. Upon the release of the operating chain the rocker head is brought through the operation of the spring 28 to a position as close to the moral le con tact as the inner slots 15 will permit.

It will be noted that as the terminal points or ends of the slots 15 and 16 are be- Car permanent contact, an operating head having spring connection at one end with said pivoted contact member, a slotted guide member receiving the other end of said head, means for exerting longitudinal pull on the end of said head having connection with said pivoted contact to tension the spring, said guide member being adapted to transform the longitudinal pull on said head into a tilting movement of same to cause the ten sion of said spring to be exerted at an angle to the plane of the contact to shift the same.

2. A switch for electric light sockets, in cluding a pivoted contact member, means for exerting a holding pull on said contact member at an angle to the longitudinal plane thereof, operating means for exerting a longitudinal pull on said contact in a direction directly against said holding pull, and slotted guide means for converting the longitudinal movement of the operating means into a tilting movement of same to reverse the angle of pull on the contact member, said guide means automatically reversing the direction of the angle of pull upon each successive operation of said operating means.

In an electric switch, a pivoted contact member, a vertically oscillating rocker head having spring connection at one end With the free end of said contact, and extending rearwardly therefrom in parallel tapered arms having lateral extensions, means for exerting a longitudinal pull on said rocker head away from said contact, and a guide iember having opposing slots receiving the lateral extensions from said arms and during the pull on said rocker head tilting same to effect an angular pull on said contact to alter the position thereof.

4. In an electric switch, a pivoted contact member, a vertically oscillating rocker head having spring connection with the free end of said contact and extending rearwardly therefrom in parallel tapered arms having lateral extensions, a pull member for exerting a longitudinal pull on the connected end of said rocker head away from said contact, a guide member embracing said rocker head and having opposing inwardly extending diverging slots and rearwardly extending diverging slots from a central guideway receiving the lateral extensions from said rocker head, and in the operation of said pull member tilting said rocker head to e'ai'ect an angular pull on said contact in alternate directions upon each successive operation of said pull member to alter the position of said contact.

5. In an electric switch, a permanent contact member, a pivoted contact member, a rocker head having spring connection with the free end of said pivoted contact, means for exerting a rearward pull on said rocker head, guide means comprising oppositely slotted parallel plates embracing said rocker head and receiving extensions from same for converting the longitudinal pull to a tilting movement of said rocker head to exert an angular pull on said pivoted contact to move same. 1

.6. In an electric switch, supporting means, a permanent contact member, a movable contact pivotally supported within said supporting means, a vertically tiltable rocker head operating between the arms of said movable contact and having rearwardly extending parallel tapered arms carrying lateral extensions, a spring connecting the free end of said movable contact and said rocker head and suitably insulated therefrom, a pull member secured to the connected end of said rocker head and insulated therefrom, parallel plates embracing said rocker head and having extensions interlocking with said supporting means, said plates being provided with opposed slots receiving said lateral extensions from said rocker head and forming guides adapted on each sue-- cessive operation of said pull member to reverse the direction of tilt of said rocker head to change the position of said movable contact.

7. In an electric switch, supporting members, a permanent contact, plates carried by said supporting means in spaced parallel arrangement, a movable contact having its arms embracing said plates and pivoted thereto intermediate of the length of said plates, a rocker head operating between said plates and'having spring connection with the free end of said movable contact, said rocker head being provided with opposed lateral extensions, a guide member comprising spaced parallel sections embracing said plates and extending rearwardly therefrom and having horn supporting lugs, a horn having extensions slotted to receive said lugs, the sections of said guide member be ing provided with opposed inwardly extend ing diverging straight walled slots and rearwardly extending diverging curved walled slots from a central guideway adapted to receive the extensions from said rocker head, the ends of said slots extending in opposite directions being positioned on opposite sides of the point at which said movable contact is pivoted, a pull member having connection with and insulated from said rocker head and extending outwardly through said horn, and an enclosing shel Signed at the city of Toronto, Ont, this eighth day of May, 1924.

ARTHUR RYAN Rica.

lll) 

